Automated Election this incoming 2010-advantage or disadvantage?As a BSIT student, one must be aware enough of the current issues related with your chosen degree, certainly, new technologies. For a hotter scenario in the country, Automated Election this coming 2010 . Filipinos nowadays are having doubts in the wisdom of participating in the voting exercise, saying many good candidates win because of shameless cheating in the polls, they may now witness honest elections, be assured that their vote will be counted, that there will be no flying voters, and no dagdag-bawas (adding and subtracting votes) — starting with the 2010 polls.Recently, on the evening of March 5 the P11.3-billion budget that the Commission on Elections needs to fully automate the May 2010 presidential elections had approved by the Senate.Consequently, the May 2004 elections were done manually, from the voting to the canvassing of the results. Independent Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon recalls that the process “was slow, tedious, and subject to criticism since the security of the electoral process and its capacity to preserve the sanctity of the ballot and the will of the electorate was put to question.”(http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=447176) Automated Election System (AES) assures electronic transmission of electoral results from the precinct level to Congress, the various board of canvassers, the parties, the accredited citizens’ arm, and the media. “This prevents wholesale cheating because tampering with the Certificates of Canvass will no longer be possible. The election returns and certificates of canvass transmitted electronically and digitally signed shall be considered as official election results and shall be used as basis for the proclamation of a candidate.” “Automation also means speed, giving no time for the sore loser to tamper with the ballot. The longer the period between the time that the vote is cast and the time that the winners are announced, the greater the time and opportunity to tamper with the results. This leads to violent elections as losing candidates who feel the stab of every vote counted against him or her, begin to resort to extra-legal means to change the tide of their fate. The psychological effect of impending loss, and the shame of losing face prompt losing candidates to use guns, goons and gold to tamper with the ballot. The Automation Law, he said, is “more than just an Automation Law. It is a commitment to respecting the right of our people to choose those who will lead them. It is a launching pad for a renewed sense of unity among our countrymen through the assurance that the process through which they choose their leaders is clean, free and credible. Let us be united in trying to bring about transparent, free and clean elections.” If the Philippine government ever gets down to automating elections in the Philippines, it has a chance to show the rest of the world how to do it. That’s because there’s already a lot of established “wisdom”, and the mistakes of other countries to learn from.In reference to: http://technogra.ph/20090303/sections/editorial/how-the-philippines-can-in-lead-election-automation/Here are some of the mistakes associated in automated election:

Problems in Other CountriesForget about the cost of funding such a project (the COMELEC has asked for P11.3 billion). How can we make the automated system easy to use? Around two years ago in Florida, a poorly designed voting machine led to 13% not casting their vote for their desired representative. The touch-screen interface was inconsistent, leading to confusion and a phenomenon known as “banner blindness”.In Finland, the lack of clear instructions (and once again, a poorly designed process) led to 232 voters (out of 12,234) not finishing the voting process. These voters failed to notice that they had to “validate” their votes after making their picks.These numbers may not seem significant. But if you’re running a nationwide election, with millions of votes to process, these errors will increase in scale. Imagine the situation here in the Philippines, as election sore losers and naysayers have yet another reason to keep the new officials from simply getting down to business.The Missing Ingredient: Designing Machines for the VoterSo why did these two systems, as well as countless others, fail? Based on my research, those managing automated elections always overlook a crucial factor: usability. No election machine designer seems to consider the user experience, or how the average user will react to their device. Or at least, consider the advice of an expert used to anticipating and accommodating these reactions.The process of marking a paper ballot is straightforward, because it mimics an activity most Filipinos do—writing on a piece of paper. And even then, some people get it wrong; what more if you force people to vote in a way they’re not used to? The majority of election machines fail to take this reality into account properly.How to Get Things RightMost systems also lack the benefit of sustained and controlled testing. The real-world conditions of an actual election are hard to simulate through a controlled experiment. Since election systems serve a crucial role, it’s important to get things right. You need to first test them on a small scale, and resolve any issues encountered. Before you can even think of wide-scale implementation, all potential problems—and their solutions—must be clear.Granted, other countries have implemented testing on a small scale (like in the case of Florida above). But there’s a noticeable lack of learning from the results of these tests. It seems those who implement automated election systems don’t learn from their mistakes.Ready for 2010?In short, by looking from the mistakes of other countries, Philippine election officials can learn how to run automated elections properly. Primarily by designing election machines that make sense to the average Filipino voter, and relying on the results of sustained testing for any necessary revisions to the system.Unfortunately, since the need for testing is crucial—unless you consider chaos on election day acceptable—a properly automated election system may not be ready by 2010. Yet no matter how clear the benefits of automated elections are for Philippine politics, it’s more important to get things right the first time. That’s much better than coming out with a system that will provide election automation critics with more ammunition Moreover, it is cited in Inquirer.net the following possibilities that would happen if an election will be automated:http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20090315-194313Many ways to cheatIf we look at the election process, there are many ways to cheat.1. People in power or with lots of money could buy support from local leaders or directly from voters.No automated system can prevent this.2. In the old days of guns and goons, voters were either coerced to vote for certain candidates or scared away and their ballots used.We thought we had progressed beyond this. Unfortunately, cheating prevailed in 2007 in Maguindanao and other areas.3. Ballot box stuffing or ballot substitution.With the proposed Comelec Automated Election System, ballots would have to be substituted before these are fed into the counting machine.This is a little more difficult, but the actual production of the fake marked ballots is a lot easier. And it is harder to identify ballots marked by one person.4. Misreading/mistallying of votes during precinct count.Normally, OMR counting machines can be very accurate. But who can tell if the machine has been programmed for automated and undetected dagdag bawas? Comelec has not done enough to assure the public that this will not happen.5. Substitution of election returns (ER).This may have happened in the 2004 elections in ARMM.We suspect that in Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo and Bohol, Namfrel and the other parties may have been given fake ERs.An honest, automated system would prevent the substitution of ERs with previously prepared faked ERs. But we can never tell if manipulation is done inside the OMR counting machine.6. Substitution of ballot box and ER on the way to the municipality.In the automated system, electronic ERs would be sent to the municipal canvassing center through the communication system.How can we be sure that the results transmitted are not changed at the source or at the receiving end?7. Fraud in the computation of the municipal COC.This is hard to detect if the precinct results are not visible to watchers.In the automated system, we will not see how computations are done in the canvassing server. There is no independent means to cross check what the server generates.I think that contrary to the common belief that delays create opportunities for cheating, some delays are needed for checking and auditing.In an automated election, moving too fast without checks and audits could result in massive cheating.8. Substitution of Municipal COCs on the way to the province.This could have happened in Muslim Mindanao in 2004.Proponents of automated systems suggest that this would be prevented with secure electronic transmission. There still is the possibility of manipulation within the system.9. Fraud in the computation of the provincial COC.This could have happened in 2004 and could happen again within the provincial canvassing server.10. Substitution of COCs on the way to Congress and Comelec.This could have happened in 2004. And even with an automated system, this could still happen.11. Errors in computation of national total.Counting machines The P9.5 billion the Comelec intends to spend on the rental of 80,000 OMR reading machines will not hasten the completion of national election counting. But the use of reading machines could lessen retail cheating in peaceful areas.However, OMR voting is not a deterrent. For cheaters, OMR voting facilitates the production of ballots.Hazards and safeguardsComelec would like us to assume that automation will prevent cheating.That is not true. Let us make sure that safeguards and audits are instituted.The OMR system is similar to the classic, paper-based election system, except that:1. Voters mark candidate of choice instead of writing the name.2. The OMR ballots are machine-counted instead of being read and tallied.For those who think that cheating can only take place when human hands are involved, this would look like a fraud-free system.Comelec's new procedure calls for each voter to physically feed his ballot into the machine.A picture of the ballot is then taken.As we pointed out earlier, the voter in some areas may be influenced or forced to feed another ballot into the machine.Programmed to cheatLet us pretend we are in a precinct where law and order prevails, and you are the voter feeding in your ballot.How can you be sure that the machine will not change one or more of your votes?How can you be sure that the total votes in the printed ER are truly what the voters in the cluster voted for?The law provides for testing of the machines prior to Election Day.If the machines are not stand-alone, how can you be sure that a modified program was not downloaded on Election Day to add votes for certain candidates and subtract from others (electronic dagdag bawas)?At the end of counting, the original program could be restored.The Election Law should call for stand-alone machines.To verify that the OMR machines are counting properly, the two parties and the Citizens Arm should be allowed to run their test ballots before the start of counting and at the end of counting.If discrepancies are detected, these should be noted and could be the basis for reverting to a manual count or a protest.SafeguardsThe Comelec proposes to automatically transmit election returns from the 80,000 OMR counting machines to the municipal servers.While this is the fastest way to do it, it does not guarantee honest elections and does not provide transparency of the election counting process.If the OMR counting machines can send electronic ERs to the municipal servers through the communication system, someone who knows the system well could change the programs on the machines from a remote and undetected location.The best way to detect fraud is to create and provide at least seven printed and electronic copies of the ER.The OMR Counting Machines should not be equipped with any communication capability.There should be a separate stand-alone PC from where the ERs can be sent to the municipal canvassing/consolidation server as well as to the seven organizations entitled to receive the seven copies of the ER.The Comelec AES does not provide for visible canvassing or parallel transmission and canvassing.This will raise concerns about the honesty of the count and would certainly result in a loss of credibility of the results.The Comelec should provide PCs for the major parties in each municipal tabulation center.There should also be at least three projectors in each canvassing center.The projectors would show the statement of vote for the municipality.Watchers would be able to compare the projected totals on the three computers (Comelec, majority and opposition).The COC should not be finalized until the discrepancies are resolved.There are 1,631 cities and municipalities, 80 provinces, 13 regions and two national canvassing centers for a total of 1,736 sets.Let’s provide 10-percent backup sets. That would be 1,910, let’s say 2,000.The total cost would only be P360 million.Cost reductionOne could easily reduce the cost of the OMR Counting Machines by increasing the cluster size per OMR machine to 10 and allowing feeding of ballots into the machines by the BEI after the end of voting.That would mean savings of at least P4.5 billion, which is more than enough to pay for a transparent and more credible transmission and canvassing system.Hopefully, wholesale cheating could be lessened.But let us not expect canvassing for national candidates to be done in three to four days. In general, it provides efficient way for voting with less hassle. Voters cannot prolong the process of voting and lined up in a crowd. But a thought came across my mind. This could be the cause to worsen political situation. Possibilities for the candidates can hire a computer experts to hack the system and manipulate the entire votes. Unless if the system is fully secured. But still the decision is in you. You can have your voice. This is a republic country anyway.

Last edited by amielou.falcon on Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:18 pm; edited 1 time in total

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Election (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo will look into the legal possibility of the poll body tying up with the Netherlands-based Smartmatic Corp. to automate the 2010 national elections after the Filipino company Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) withdrew yesterday from its joint venture with Smartmatic to supply the Comelec with poll automation machines.

"Melo on automated polls in 2010: Chances very, very slim"

The chances for automating the 2010 elections are “very, very, very slim," Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair Jose Melo admitted Tuesday, hinting at the possibility of conducting next year’s elections manually.

"Comelec to probe ties, record of Smartmatic""Smartmatic’s controversial track record and alleged ties with the Venezuelan government is now the subject of a post qualification probe by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), even as its automation machines hurdled the systems requirement for the May 2010 polls.

Comelec Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) chair Ferdinand Rafanan said they are also verifying “who really owns the patent” for the technology that Smartmatic will use in the automated elections, as well as its relationship with two other Taiwan-based companies.

Smartmatic is the other half of the consortium that has been pre-qualified by the SBAC to bid for the poll automation project, where six other groups competed. Its local partner is Total Information Management (TIM).

It submitted a bid of P7.2 billion for the right to implement the country’s first automated national polls

These are the Headlines that blow up the Country last June 29,2009like a bluster that rage the news in Televisions,Radios, Internets and even in the neighborhood! Everyone is talking about this turmoil, bringing big issues to be talked about, because Its all about the coming 2010 elections.

Now, Assignment NO. 3 is all about our outlook these things and what out personal views about this matter as a citizen in our beloved nation, The Philippines.

QUESTION:Automated voting? of Manual Voting?Which is Which?

REFLECTION:in my own point of view regarding this issue, i would rather choose what the innovative technology offers. I think Automation of the Election is much better than by the old manual approach which is as we know easy to sabotage and disrupt.

"THE late Neptali Gonzales was deeply suspicious of voting machines. When shown a computer that could record, count, and transmit the results of the vote in hours rather than days or weeks, Gonzales looked the vendor in the eye and asked in his best Presbyterian manner: “How do we know that what it will record, count, and transmit are those that the voter chose?”

-This is an expensive option. A printer will be attached to the touch-screen machine that can print out on demand a paper record that the voter can inspect for accuracy. But it should not be brought out of the polling booth because it could lead to vote selling.

My last point is cost.Can our "kaban na bayan" provide these expensive technology that some offers. As what i had read form the news, every thing was set spontaneous and well through out, But suddenly the Total Management Corp.(TIM) abruptly withdrawed their tie/bond with Smartmatic just for the reason that "ïts too late and it's almost time" , though they have a lot of reasons why they did so, i still believe that there is SOMEONE out there or maby be the one who is in a Higher position or a Pack of Powerful cluster of politicians who have a darker plans and schemes in this 2010 Presidential Electios.

hmhmhmhm.. i think All of this sre very well planned........

hmhmmmm...or i think i shoul wire tapp all thier political conversations to be acquianted with the TTTRRRUUUTTHHH! i really want the TRUTH.

Ako MISMO!

ako mismo ang magababantay sa sarili kong boto!

kung may bibili man nito,

MAGKANO ANG OFFFER MO??

hehehhe..just cracking some jokes! i have some confession to tell about, last election,i received, i think , 500 PHP all in all enclosed in an enveloped, was given to me hours before the Election starts. Then I realized I have sell,vend and traded my vote. That time i did not bestowed any importance in my vote,simply because i don't care about the County and the country's situation.

Surely, money can do all things, it can twist a young and innocent mind into a hard and dark one.

Perhaps all those things happend to make me realize and to give me such a lesson for a lifetime,to be reminisced as i grow old.

In my retrospect,i Have a one Time big slap to the FAce of the WORLD which was controlled by money, POLITICS!

Now i know the truth, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO PUT HIS CONTROL OVER ME AND OVER THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOUNG GENERATIONS WHO WOULD INHeRIT OUR FAILURE AND SUCCES IN EVERY ASPECTS IN OUR NATION, BUT GOD AND JESUS ALONE.

because no matter how honest the people and how high is the technology, only GOD can change the World.If he has no God in his life there would no righteousness in this world ut only deceit and lie.

Your thoughts on automated elections with reference to the current situation ... (1000 words)

Now days, technologies are very important to us people. These existing materials give us a gratification and satisfaction for our daily urgencies in everyday life.

As a correlation to this, regarding with the process of election last 2006, it causes such hustles, troubles and issues because of the lack assessments and some election frauds of the voters profile that brought many negative feedbacks about the voting results.

In addition, there are some possibilities of having an issue to manipulate peoples vote during election. From those who have the power or the capability considering that they are in the high position in office. And for this coming election the government wanted to implement the new process of electoral system with the use and application of the highly evolve technologies. In consideration for the fast and well organize voting process.

This new proposed electoral system is precisely known as “Automated Election”. An Automated election system is type of a system that using appropriate technology for voting and electronic devices to count votes and canvass/consolidate results. The question now is, How secured the comelec voting system that they urge to use the automated election this 2010? I think the system can be hacked and manipulate the results by the computer experts. If the National Security systems of U.S have millions of attempts to hacked and control their system, how much more here in the Philippines.

There are also advantages and disadvantages of implementing the automated system for election. It provides efficient way for voting with less hassle. Voters cannot prolong the process of voting and lined up in a crowd. But a thought came across my mind. This could be the cause to worsen political situation. Possibilities for the candidates can hire a computer experts to hack the system and manipulate the entire votes. Unless if the system is fully secured.

But on the other hand, this new electoral system can also be cheated and deceit. We can’t be sure that about the confidentiality and security of our votes, so that we us a voter will can assure for the proper and official results of our votes without any doubt and suspicions about any foolish exploitation of our votes . Considering to the fact that this process of election can also be cheated and manipulate by others that is very disparate to win in for an office position.

By these views, I, as a student and to vote nationally for the first time, can state that whether it is manual or Automated election, the coming election will end up properly and fairly, if the existence of many election frauds will desist and hinder.

Last edited by mayraflordurango on Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:22 pm; edited 3 times in total

Each person is aiming for the unbeaten, well-organized, straightforward and reliable 2010 elections. Through automation we can ensure a credible transition of power and orderly elections, of course, there are also advantages and disadvantages of implementing the automated system for election. It provides efficient way for voting with less hassle. Voters cannot prolong the process of voting and lined up in a crowd. But a thought came across my mind. This could be the cause to worsen political situation. Possibilities for the candidates can hire a computer expert to hack the system and manipulate the entire votes. Unless if the system is fully secured.

The result, the unceasing corruption can worsen financial crisis we are experiencing today and another leading cause of poverty is corruption. If the government did not put their hands into their secret pocket, the less fortunate Filipinos will be given extra attention in terms of education to provide a better and brighter future.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno8436.htm

People shouted for a “Change”. And as a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology student[/i], I undoubtedly be of the same opinion with the “Automated Election Process.” As time goes by, a demand of new technology is now highly needed especially when we are going to consider an election. Filipinos who have seriously doubted the wisdom of participating in the voting exercise, saying a good many candidates win because of shameless cheating in the polls, may now witness honest elections, be assured that their vote will be counted, that there will be no flying voters, and no dagdag-bawas (adding and subtracting votes) starting with the 2010 polls. The greatest source of doubt in the credibility of any election is “the number of hands that handle the ballot.” The automated process will respond to this concern “by limiting the amount of human handling of the ballots, through the use of technology, thus limiting the opportunities to tamper with them.“Automation also means speed, giving no time for the painful loser to tamper with the ballot. The longer the period between the time that the vote is cast and the time that the winners are announced, the greater the time and opportunity to tamper with the results. This leads to violent elections as losing candidates who feel the stab of every vote counted against him or her, begin to resort to extra-legal means to change the tide of their fate. The psychological effect of approaching loss and the shame of losing face prompt losing candidates to use guns, goons and gold to tamper with the ballot.For Filipino candidates, when guns, goons and gold prove inadequate, they resort to filing electoral protests, which block our courts and the Comelec. Millions of pesos are spent on resolving these cases; resources which are better spent addressing the immediate needs of the communities represented by these candidates. Losing candidates become perpetual roadblocks to the efforts of winning candidates, sowing hostility and disunity in the community.The Automation Law is more than just an Automation Law. It is a commitment to respecting the right of our people to choose those who will lead them. It is a launching pad for a renewed sense of unity among our countrymen through the assurance that the process through which they choose their leaders is clean, free and credible. Let us be united in trying to bring about transparent, free and clean elections.”

Setting up the country's automated electoral system is a crucial step toward clean and honest elections. While it will not be a cure-all for the country's electoral problems, automating the polls will eliminate a lot of the human intervention that has made vote-rigging possible.I am optimistic that an automated electoral system will facilitate fair and honest elections, provide a new set of government leaders with an unquestionable authority, and unite the country in facing the challenges ahead of us.The heart of a true democracy lies in achieving clean and honest elections which provide mandate and authority to elect public officials. Our laws mandate the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to use an automated election system in the conduct of national and local elections to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness and accuracy on the 2010 elections.

Last edited by jojimie on Sat Oct 17, 2009 1:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

1.) What is automated elections all about?2.) What is the Smartmatic-TIM consortium?3.) Why does TIM cut its relation with theSmartmatic4.) What is the problem? Could they settle it?5.) As an IT student, why do you think this automated elections must push through?6.) What are the advantages of the automation compared to the manual elections?

These guide questions are answered in my blog. Together with the beginning, the company who beats the bid conducted by the Comelec, the disapprovals and allegations, the problems between the two companies, the actions made, the comments of important personalities and my opinions, let's understand what is this automated elections all about.

When the issue about poll automation have been brought up many news and articles have been written, discussing about this whole thing. A lot of questions have made up to people’s mind, Would this automated election could eliminate possible cheaters? Would it help us, the people votes to be worth it as a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines? These are just few issues and queries embodied by the preparation of the 2010 Poll automation.

As few of us know, it has been seventeen years since the first initiatives to automate Philippine elections. The effort has spanned three administrations (Presidents Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) and five national elections (not counting barangay elections and the ARMM gubernatorial elections). But still nothing have been implemented because of some uncertain circumstances. Now, there is another attempt of pursuing this Automated Election for 2010. It was on January 7, this year when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) submits a P13.9 billion-budget for the automation of the 2010 elections to the DBM.

From March 5 to June 9 of 2009, a lot of activities have been worked on to be able to perform this much awaited Poll Automation in 2010. These includes the passing of the Senate of P11.3 billion-supplemental budget for the automation of the 2010 elections, obtaining of bid documents from Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the automation of the 2010 elections of the eleven prospective bidders which in the scanning of the documents only seven bidders passed. Also when Pres. Arroyo signs RA 9295 which allocates funds for the automation of the elections, the public bidding organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and all other process they have to encounter in order for the election process to reach a higher level in terms of credibility and technology. After all those procedures they have undergone, only one bidder have the chance to lead all of us to a clean and honest election process as a lot of people believe. This is the Netherlands-based Smartmatic and its Filipino partner Total Information Management (TIM).

But, later this month numerous reports have been stated that the automation of the 2010 elections was placed in jeopardy after the Filipino partner of the technology consortium that won the bidding for the project backed out, which is the Total Information Management (TIM),announced by The Commission on Elections Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo. Some officials of Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) informed him that they were withdrawing from their partnership with Dutch firm Smartmatic International. According to Commission on Elections (Comelec), Chairman Jose Melo, there are some irreconcilable differences between the two companies. Allegedly issues also came out that there are some people in the administration or politicians who were manipulating the Filipino partner in order to back-out. Also, the issue about the financial arises, whether which of the two would get the much higher profit with these future automated election. By then, loads of people have been frustrated upon hearing the news. The hope of having much cleaner procedures for the most mission critical election for our country have just gone. However, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) assures the people that they would settle this mess.

So, just this morning July 4, 2009 in the Philippine Star, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo has announced that “Were able to iron out their differences over the control of funds for the P11.2-billion poll automation project. We were able to thresh out everything. Everything seems to be on track again after one week of suspense and apprehension that we will be reverting to the manual system. We are back with automation”.

On my own perspective, Poll automation in the 2010 elections is good because we have to keep abreast with trends in modernization. However, considering that it’s the first time we are attempting this technology, we can expect some problems to transpire and this will again compel the government to shell out several more millions. Its success can only be gauged by implementation and seeing its results. It’s a tremendous boost to our obsolete vote-counting system and would ultimately improve our unreliable election process. But still we can never be assured that it’s automated, so we are free from election fraud. Machines can cheat more efficiently than people, if so programmed.

As far as I know, it is still manual in terms of selecting the candidates, we just need to shade the circle of our choice and let the machines do the counting and tallying. Though poll automation will make counting votes quicker, I still have my doubts if the powers-that-be would not hack computer programs come year 2010. For the human virus will surely destroy the genuine purpose of automation. Cheaters will always find a way to hack the machine.

On the positive side, I could say that this is a welcome news for the Filipinos, the majority of voters expect the machines to deliver the goods. If not, we would be in a lot more trouble than before. The Commission on Elections should ensure that no sleight of hand will occur. The technical people of the Commission on Elections should work side by side with the supplier, from delivery period to actual operation during the elections. If these things are met, then we are in for a new age in election history. I believe that everybody has been eager for this moment to come because it will now bail us out of the globally laughable Jurassic electoral system that has been toyed with by politicians in the Philippine election playground for many years now, exploiting its weaknesses by using all sorts of immoral, unethical and even criminal methods.

Now that we have this poll automation for the next elections and thereafter, I only hope that the criminally-inclined will not tinker with it and render it ineffective to come out with true election results. If programmed and used honestly, this new system will push back to history the oft-repeated complaint by losing politicians, “Dinaya ako.” After so many decades of manual vote counting, we will at last have an honest-to-goodness automated poll count. Yes, let’s give the Commission on Elections and the winning bidder a chance to prove their worth in 2010. Otherwise, we would be staying true to our tag as “the nation of crabs”. Poll automation is a welcome change in the upcoming 2010 election. With this the Filipinos we’re hoping for a cleaner and transparent counting of votes. Let’s just pray that in the end this long journey for the poll automation will be successful.

It’s tough for a casual person to decide upon the agreement on AUTOMATED VOTING SYSTEM in the Philippines. But as an INFOTECH student I do concur on the side of AVS for it would gain more advantages in the development of our country. Most of the people think that an “electronic cheating would occur in May 2010 election because of the automated voting plan. But if we look at it, it would be more difficult for the “cheaters” to manipulate the votes because of the ensured security programmed on the machine. If we trust in our technology, then I say yes to automated voting system because it would be a big pace towards development and modernization. With the aid of new technology, the people will be motivated to vote than ever before. Opening them to a technological world that would also be a help unto their lives in the future. Since the voting was fast due to its automated process there would be less hassle unto the voters giving them interest to vote. Voters will not prolong the process of voting and line up in a crowd. It has rapid transmission system that would reduce the time needed to cast and transmit the votes. Going back to the words “electronic cheating”, would the manual voting system stop cheating in election? It would only let cheaters do their bad intentions easier. Because their used with that manual cheating process, it would be easy for them to tamper the votes and do what they usually do during elections. If cheating would really occur, it would really occur. The automated voting system is just a developmental move of our election system. The problem on cheating is not solely facing in automated voting system. It has something to do with every voter’s decision. Cheating is not the main issue in these controversies. If they have intentions in manipulating the votes, it’s not the system’s fault. It’s about us. We don’t want naman cguro to suffer again from the past’s failure, if we remain in the manual system. It’s time to face the “CHALLENGE OF TECHNOLOGY”

TAKE A RISK… TAKE A CHANCE… MAKE A CHANGE…

For more clear information about the latest turnout of TIM I gathered some news and facts from the internet with their respective url.

What is automation voting system? An automated voting system that integrates the stages of registering and certifying voters and collecting their votes. A computer-based voter registration station accesses a database to verify that the voter is eligible to vote. Vote entry stations provide a computer-based interactive graphic interface for permitting the voter to enter votes. A vote entry controller activates and monitors the vote entry stations to prevent unauthorized voting. Votes may be collected at either the vote entry stations or at the vote entry controller to which they are downloaded, which enhances security by providing a means to compare votes collected at one point in the system with votes collected at another point.

REFERENCEhttp://www.freepatentsonline.com/5218528.html

The Agreement in the Philippine Voting SystemJune 25, 2009 Poll automation contract, awarded to winning bidderAfter a long process of bidding, the Commission on Elections finally awarded the poll automation contract to Smartmatic and Total Information Management - the only bidder to pass the evaluation.This will ensure that the 2010 national and local elections will be computerized.“Everything is now on line for the 2010 elections. We are all set and there will be no hindrance for the 2010 polls, let us hope and pray we will have peaceful elections then,” Comelec chairman Jose said.Melo quoted an en banc resolution that “after due deliberation, the Comelec resolves to approve report of Special Bids and Awards Committee confirming Total Information Management-Smartmatic as bidder with lowest calculated bid and award contract to them for the automation of elections on May 10, 2010.”To ensure that the consortium will perform according to the contract terms and provisions, Smartmatic-TIM consortium must submit to Comelec a bond in the form of a manager’s check worth at least 5% of the total winning bid.Melo noted that aside from Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Rene Sarmiento, and Armando Velasco who signed the resolution, Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer who was on business trip, issued a sworn statement that he fully approved SBAC’s recommendation to award the automation project to Smartmatic-TIM. Even bypassed Commissioners Leonardo Leonida and Elias Yusoph concurred with resolution.Melo added that only temporary restraining orders (TROs) from third parties can prevent the promulgation of the contract. However, they are confident that the Comelec’s transparency throughout the whole procurement process will be their defense against legal challenges.

http://electionwatch.ph/

What’s Smartmatic? Smartmatic is a multinational company that specializes in the design and end-to-end deployment of complex purpose-specific technology solutions. With an unsurpassed technology base, continuous innovation, and quality in processes and results, Smartmatic is organized around three business areas: Electronic voting systems, intelligent and integrated security systems for large enterprises and governments, and advanced solutions for people registration and authentication for a wide range of government applications.

Smartmatic is a privately held company with offices in the US, Mexico, Venezuela, Barbados, Spain, Philippines and Taiwan. It has more than 200 employees worldwide. Its capacity for innovation and wide range of products and services has earned Smartmatic extensive recognition in the technology community worldwide.

Reference: http://www.google.com.ph

What’s TIM? Total Information Management Corp. provides information technology solutions to corporations. It offers outsourcing services, such as business process outsourcing, offshore data center operations, managed network services, telecommunication services, and call center services; business continuity services; technology solutions, such as supplying recertified and refurbished IBM mainframes and peripheral equipment; and engineering and maintenance services. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.

Filed Under: Technology (general), Government Contracts, ElectionsMANILA, Philippines—Local information technology provider Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) had backed out of a joint venture for election automation, fearing the deal gave its foreign partner unbridled power that could lead to potential abuse, according to an industry source close to TIM.Under the contract between TIM and Smartmatic International Corp., the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would have paid the providers P7.19 billion for the lease of goods and purchase of services.Documents obtained by the Inquirer showed that TIM, for one, was questioning the authority to be bestowed upon the chair of the joint venture to sign checks singly in case of disagreements.Contrary to true joint venture“This is contrary to the nature of a true joint venture and would expose us to possible liabilities for violations of existing Philippine laws,” said a letter sent by TIM president Jose Mari Antunez to Smartmatic chief finance officer Armando Yanes dated June 25.Yanes, on the other hand, replied the next day to demand that TIM honor the contractual obligation to incorporate the joint venture corporation which will enter into a contract with the Comelec.Yanes said failure to comply with such an obligation shall entitle Smartmatic “to legal remedies available to us.”No say on counting softwareOther industry sources said TIM was likewise opposing several key provisions in the joint venture agreement as well as in the contract on the 2010 automated election system.The sources explained that the local partners were concerned that TIM had no say on the counting software development, despite being the technical partner, and would be a lame duck if electronic cheating were to occur.One bone of contention, one source explained, was a provision in the proposed contract with Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM joint venture which stated that: “The providers shall be liable for all their obligations under this project and the performance of portions thereof by other persons or entities not parties to this contract shall not relieve the providers of said obligations and concomitant liabilities.”The provision further added that Smartmatic, as the “provider with the greater track record in automated elections, shall be in charge of the technical aspects of the counting and canvassing, software and hardware, including transmission configuration and system integration.”TroubleshootingSmartmatic will also be primarily responsible for preventing and troubleshooting technical problems of the election.As such, the source said TIM did not want to be part of a system that could be vulnerable to electronic cheating.TIM had likewise questioned the provisions mapping out the contributions of the parties to the joint venture.For instance, provision 3.2 of the joint venture said that Smartmatic, among others, shall be responsible for “any other activity not expressly written in this agreement or assigned to TIM.”Documents also showed that funding was not a reason behind the pullout because TIM had obtained a credit line from British bank HSBC for the project.

The Commission on Election (Comelec) has made a resolution in which they decided to convert from manual form of election to the modernized or automated form of election.

Since 2007 they made a resolution to prevent or lessen the election irregularities such as vote cheating.

In the post survey of June 2007 by the SWS regarding the prevention of election irregularities majority of the respondents are in favor of automated election.

Before converting the election system, the Comelec chairman said that after the resolution they will they will be heading a special bidding and who ever gonna won in this bidding would be able to manufacture the one of the biggest project of the government which is the machines that will be used during the election.

Last March 2009, the bidding of the different companies has started, it runs one and a half month to choose what company will handle this project.

There are two companies who won the bidding the Smartmatics and TIM (total information management Corp.)

Smartmatic (also referred as Smartmatic Corp. or Smartmatic International) is a multinational corporation founded in 2000 that specializes in the design and deployment of complex purpose-specific technology solutions.

It is organized around three business areas: Electronic voting systems, integrated security systems, and biometric systems for people registration and authentication for government applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartmatic

Total Information Management (TIM) Corporation is a wholly Filipino owned Information Technology (IT) company with nationwide operations offering varied products and services. It considers itself as "The Filipino IT Company" competing in a field dominated by multinationals.

In all its undertakings, TIM has pursued the challenge to excel. It is this intensity and dedication that enabled TIM to win accolades and recognition from its foreign technology partners every year. Consistently showing double digit growth rates in the last decade, TIM has always been counted among the country's top 1000 corporate enterprises.

http://www.timcorp.net/main/index.php?pg=about.tim

Before the bidding happens the ARMM voters undergo a post automation thru marking ballots that later fed into optical mark reader counting machines. The result of this post-automation is said to be excellent because the counting of votes was done in a short period o time.

The election irregularities such as vote buying, cheating the counting of votes, flying voters, and harassment of voters that commonly happens to the localities are proven and witnessed but no one complaint because of harm that can be caused. Most of the irregularities were done in the ARMM that’s why they call it Capital of Vote cheating in the Philippines.

Thats why the commission on election decided to make a resolution in the Philippines.

I just want to share the articles Ive read

I. SITUATIONER

The conduct of elections in the Philippines for the past four decades has remained largely

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines will hold automated presidential elections next year after the partners of a joint venture that won a $150 million deal to supply counting machines patched up their differences on Friday, officials said.

"We're back to automation," Jose Melo, head of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), told reporters after Filipino company Total Information Management signed a joint venture agreement with Barbados-based Smartmatic to supply 82,200 counting machines.

Lawmakers, political groups and analysts have previously cast doubts over the automated process. Many feared chaos due to potential machine breakdowns and delays in results transmission, which could lead to a failed election and political limbo.

But analysts say even manual counting would expose the elections to the likelihood of fraud. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has faced four attempts at impeachment on charges she cheated in the last presidential election in 2004.

Melo said the incorporation papers of the joint venture to supply vote counting machines will be filed before the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday and the contract with Comelec will be signed on Friday, the final deadline to automate the elections in May 2010.

If no automation contract is signed by July 10, Melo said the Philippines will likely scrap the deal and hold elections manually.

The automation should provide results within two days of voting instead of the weeks it takes currently, the agency has said.

On Monday, Melo said the plan to automate polls was likely to be scrapped because Smartmatic's local partner broke off from the deal due to differences, but gave the partners until Friday to resolve their dispute.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-40785720090703

Even though the TIM backed out, I am still pro to automated elections because it enables the voter to cast their votes secretly in easiest and fastest way. Election can avoid from irregularities , malpractice or any form of election frauds. And the counting and recounting of the votes would be easily done by the Commission on Election.[center]

Oddly enough, the Philippines finally had its taste of automated elections in one of the most ‘troubled” areas in Mindanao, the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM.

Amid heavy security by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the first automated elections drawn 84% voters turnout, more than twice of the expected 30-40% based on previous elections. The test run of the election automation machines saw action with an added constraint - disruptions due to war. During the elections, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) launched an attack on various areas and settlements including bombing of telecommunication lines, cell site towers and bridges.

There were two types of these election automation machines deployed: theDirect Recording Electronic (DRE) and Optical Mark Reader (OMR). Obviously, the former is better as voters are provided with a Voting Pad where the photos of candidates can be selected by pressing on the desired picture. Once the vote is final, a receipt is generated after pressing ‘BOTO‘. The receipt is kept by the Board of Election Inspectors just in case there are complaints raised. However, DRE Technology can only be deployed in areas where communications is available and reliable.

On the other hand, OMR (Optical Mark Reader) Technology uses a specially scanned paper ballot where voters have to shade the oval which corresponds to their candidate of choice using a pencil. The downside of this is there’s a probability that a ballot can be rejected if the OMR Scan machine cannot read the markings.

The Direct Recording Electronic votes can be transmitted electronically to the Counting Centers, while the OMR votes have to be brought in physically to these Counting Centers for processing. So if the MILF are bombing communication towers and bridges, this proved to be a challenge.

Nonetheless, results are now processed faster, in about 36 hours and more than 90% of votes are counted. With these, we hope we see a new and clean elections come 2010. I believe the pilot run is more or less successful, considering the number of constraints these machines were subjected to. One notable attempt to play with the OMR machine was one candidate inserting some photocopies of OMR ballots - but were eventually rejected. LOL. So will we finally bid farewell to DagDag Bawas experts and PHD holders?

Now one big question remains: Will there be elections by 2010? Bummer!

AUTOMATED ELECTIONS SHOULD PUSH THROUGH AND ENSURE CREDIBLE TRANSITION OF POWER - ANGARA ON COMELEC

Senator Edgardo J. Angara calls on COMELEC to look at options and advance efforts to ensure an automated 2010 elections.

With the advent of Total Information Management Corp.'s (TIM) withdrawal from its joint venture with Smartmatic to supply Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with poll automation machines, Angara urges concerned parties to settle their differences and put national concern as a priority.

"Through automation we can ensure a credible transition of power and have clean, honest and orderly 2010 elections," said Angara who authored the automated election law.

He added, "Setting up the country's automated electoral system is a crucial step toward clean and honest elections. While it will not be a cure-all for the country's electoral problems, automating the polls will eliminate a lot of the human intervention that has made vote-rigging possible."

Angara, who led Senate deliberations on Commission on Election's (Comelec) P11-billion supplemental budget for poll automation, said that he is optimistic that an automated electoral system will facilitate fair and honest elections, provide a new set of government leaders with an unquestionable authority, and unite the country in facing the challenges ahead of us.

"The heart of a true democracy lies in achieving clean and honest elections which provide mandate and authority to elect public officials. Our laws mandate the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to use an automated election system in the conduct of national and local elections to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness and accuracy of elections," said Angara

How secured the comelec voting system that they urge to use the automated election this 2010? I think the system can be hacked and manipulate the results by the computer experts. If the National Security system of U.S have millions of attempts to hacked and control their system, how much more here in the Philippines.

There are also advantages and disadvantages of implementing the automated system for election. It provides efficient way for voting with less hassle. Voters cannot prolong the process of voting and lined up in a crowd. But a thought came across my mind. This could be the cause to worsen political situation. Possibilities for the candidates can hire a computer experts to hack the system and manipulate the entire votes.Unless if the system is fully secured.

ISSUE

2010 Philippine Automated Election in jeopardy

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) are now on the mindset of going back to manual counting if Smartmatic and TIM will not resolve their conflict. The COMELEC has given the two corporations until Friday to decide whether or not they could push through with the automation contract for the 2010 elections.

If the two companies cannot push through with the automation contract, COMELEC chairman Jose Melo admitted that next year’s elections might be done manually because the commission no longer has the time to convene a second bidding for a new supplier of machines.

Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., chairman of the House electoral reform committee, told reporters that TIM president Antuñez wanted 500 million php “up front” from its foreign partner. “If you give me a half a billion pesos, all of these problems will be solved.” - This was what the president of Total Information Management Corp. had demanded in a tease manner, but Smartmatic took seriously.“Of course, they took this as a joke but lawyers do not laugh about such things. They took it as a deal breaker. The lawyers thought this was tantamount to extortion,” Locsin said.Locsin said that by making “impossible demands,” Antunez was laying the groundwork for its defense against a lawsuit to be filed by Smartmatic in Singapore. “P500 million is really big because Smartmatic’s bid is already the lowest. You are not supposed to do that, it’s illegal. You cannot just give P500 million profit to somebody. Why will you do that?” Locsin said.

Other option the Commission on Elections is looking will be the joint partnership between Smartmatic and COMELEC, but worst case will be a full manual counting for the May 2010 election as chairman Melo sighted the automation will be “very slim” as” happy days will be here again” for those who will plan to cheat for next year election.

just a twinkle in my mind -MOVING TOWARDS THE NEW GENERATION [ADVANCE TECHNOLOGY]

in our situation Advance Technology it means a lot to us as a user... technology make our dialy life and work more easy and fast.... automated election one part of the biggest advantage in our generation.... it SATISFY a lot in our situation [election].

Advantages:[automated election]

1. Remove the potential for human error and cheating at ballot reading and tallying

2. Remove the delay and potential for cheating between ballot tallying and preparation of election returns

3. Remove the delay and potential for cheating during tallying of election returns

4. Make elections much cheaper to execute

5. Reduce election violence significantly.

just a twinkle in my mind but there still a big question on it... we all know having those greatest achievement for advance technology there are also people who try to cheat on it.....the "HACKER".... what will happen if the HIGH LEVEL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL will hire some PROFFESSIONAL "Computer Hackers" there still a chance that it will happen... there still a lot of government official who are soooo.... "GAHAMAN" in money & power!..

Dis-Advantages[automated election]

1. Quick counts will become obsolete. If the results can be reported on the same day, there will be no market for quick counts. (NAMFREL has recently announced no quick counts for 2010 -Editor)

2. Labor will no longer be needed for several days/weeks to manage and monitor elections. The resulting creative destruction will affect teachers, poll-watchers, men of arms, media people, advertising, and the peripheral economy that they patronize during election period.

3. Guns and goons will give way to geeks and gold. Attempts at cheating will shift to hacking the transmittal of election results from far flung areas to Manila, as well as hacking the tallying of results in Manila. this could have the happy side-effect of pushing the computer and internet revolution into far flung provinces, as money flows to reward technical know-how every six years.

4. Quick direct from population feedback will become a viable option—referendum questions like charter change can be realistically executed in a short period of time if elections become so cheap and quick to do.___________________________________________________________________

SMARTMATIC AUDITABLE ELECTION SYSTEM

If your electoral agency seeks a fully-automated, electronic voting system that is completely secure, reliable and auditable, the Smartmatic Auditable Election System (SAES) is your solution. Proven under the rigorous scrutiny of independent international monitors in several national and regional elections, SAES has distinguished itself as the system beyond reproach.

The powerful combination of robust hardware, secure software and highly qualified personnel enables the SAES system to guarantee elections that voters can trust, in any part of the world. From its voting machines that feature a variety of vote input devices, customizable interfaces and printed voter receipts, to its secure data transmission networks, high-end tallying servers, immediate results tabulation and fully auditable paper trail, the SAES technological platform is the only end-to–end system available that ensures democracy rules, cost effectively.

Security

The impenetrable architecture of SAES is the result of a number of security mechanisms that we created by combining internationally recognized and standard-based security algorithms. You won’t have to worry about election tampering.

Immediacy

Not only do SAES voting machines allow voters to cast their choice more quickly, they allow the results to be known just minutes after the last polling place has closed.

Veracity

Smartmatic was the first company in the world to include printed receipts so every voter can verify that their on screen selections were recorded accurately. This not only establishes an auditable paper trail, but invites public trust and establishes the credibility of the election.

Economy

The digital voting process reduces the cost of holding an election because it requires greatly reduced human and economic resources. In addition, a thousand tons of paper can be saved because the need to print anything is eliminated almost entirely!

Auditing

A prerequisite of Smartmatic’s engagement is that a series of audits are undertaken before, during and after the election. SAES has been designed to make this a simple procedure, creating what we believe is the most transparent automated-voting process available in the world.

Flexibility

Your electorate has its own laws and conventions for tallying votes. That’s why SAES has been designed to make configuration for different tallying methods easy. Whether you use D’Hondt, simple majority, relative majority or other counting methods, you won’t incur costly reprogramming fees.

Accessibility

Voters with disabilities can be accommodated comfortably by SAES voting machines. Buttons with specific shapes and colors, sip-and-puff devices and special earphones are just some of the features our machines possess in order to guarantee equality and independence for all voters.

Versatility

Smartmatic recognizes the value of innovations that contribute to security so we engineered SAES in a way that lets it integrate readily with civil registration and voter identification systems. SAES makes it easier to build on the security platform you already have in place.

Autonomy

In those cases where an electoral agency requires operational control, Smartmatic provides licensing solutions. Structured as a turnkey agreement with ongoing support, the technology transfer can be achieved in the mid- to long- term, after training has been completed.

Many issues has been televised in these said automated election but what is the automated election mean and manual election?

*Automated election is states, [R EPUBLAICCT N o. 9 3 6 9 ] AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436, ENTITLED "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, TO ENCOURAGE TRANSPARENCY, CREDIBILITY, FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY OF ELECTIONS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE BATASPAMBANSA BLG. 881, AS AMENDED, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 1166 AND OTHER RELATED ELECTION LAWS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHERPURPOSES" http://www.senate.gov.ph/republic_acts/ra%209369.pdf

*can make it more EFFICEINT,TRANSPARENT & FAST

*watchers don't need to go near the counter but by using the OVERHEAD PROJECTOR all can visibly count the balots faster, efficeintly(comfortably) and TRANSPARENTLY.Thus DAGDAG-BAWAS could be eliminated. http://forums.gov.ph/thread.asp?rootID=106197&catID=2

MANUAL ELECTION- it is the old fashioned election in which you register in the Comelec (if you are a new voter, new married and transfered in residency). In the day of election your voted candidates is written on a sheet of paper and then you, yourself will put it inside of the ballot boxes, you will be given a mark that can stay longer to which signifies that you already voted.

Being a citizen in these motherland, I have the two answers: the YES and the NO.

First I will discuss the NO side, I am not in favor because no matter how high tech is your system if and only if there is a person who wants to destroy nor enter the said system it is possible that it can be hacked. Moreover it is time consuming as well as the government needs to have a budget for the system.

And how about the old one's are they capable on using the new automated election? Probably NOT, because they were "nasanay" in the old election...Maybe they were some but not all people were aware of computer, they need a tutor when the election approaches, in that sense there will be a waste of people in tutoring their fellows and the conflict will occur.

And as far as I knew, this system is cannot be processed in just a little period of time. The supreme court is still arguing with the contact between the Smartmatic and the Total Information Management (TIM). Maybe the reason behind of it was, who was to control of the corporation. "Ayaw nilang magpatalo." Today, the COMELEC is still waiting for their reconciling of the both parties. Comelec Chairman Melo has given the two companies until Friday (July 3) to settle their dispute and sign the automation contract.

On the other hand, being an INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES I am in favor because it is easier to used and it won't consume many hours just by listing the names of candidates in the sense that you just need to click nor to select their names.

I'd still keep on my mind, wondering........., maybe other were right...... we should try another processed!!! so that we can avoid cheating in this coming election. Who knows???? in this time we can have a new form of election there were no cheaters anymore, the winning candidates deserves on it...No rallies or conflict any longer because we are responsible for our country's sake and we selected them! We can't blamed anyone but only we can blamed ourselves because we've done it.

Manual Election vs. Automated Election, which is better? It is one of the headlines now in newspapers and even in the local televisions that COMELEC imposed in using an automated election this coming 2010. The question now, is Philippines ready to have an automated elections? Many are favor in having an automated elections for they believe that this is the best way to have a clean election. With this, some COMELEC officials even the senators in the upper house fought to have an automated election. Last month, COMELEC opened the table to have a bidding for those companies wanted to win the 20 billion pesos contract for the automated election. Some companies were not passed on the first screening of bidding and some are passed. There are also were disqualified because of having some error and lack of documents. Until one foreign company won to supply the machines needed in 2010 elections and that is the SMARTMATICS. SMARTMATICS is well-known company offering their services to those parties and institutes wanted to have an automated elections. Some countries and states in United States signed a contract with SMARTMATICS because of its finest and optimum machines they used. Many Filipinos came up with this question, is there a law allowing an automated election here in the Philippines? According to Chan Robles Virtual Law Library (http://www.chanrobles.com/republicactno8436.htm) there is a law allowing that automated election can be practiced here in the Philippines, and that is the Republic Act No. 8436.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

In this law, it states on how it was declared and mentioned some terms in which people should know technical and unfamiliar terms. The RA 8436 mentioned also what are the qualifications, rights and limitiations of the special member of the Board of Election Inspectors. There are also duties and functions of the special member of the Board of Election Inspectors included in the RA 8436. This law also made a Baord of Canvassers in which each city, province and municipality has its own two board of canvassers representatives which oversees during the election. The most important of all in this RA 8436, there is still the presence of the ballot box which is a safety features that the Commission prescribed in case of emergency.

How about manual election? There are few groups are still favor in having a manual elections. In manual elections, you have to count the votes in every ballots one by one. It is still long process but many believe that this is still the best way this coming 2010 election. A certain citizen indicated that automated election is not 100% safe. We all know that automated election uses computers. Computers uses numbers as a form of language w/c is converted into alphanumeric. If not mistaken, electronics also revolves from numbers, thus using electronics as a form of security is not 100% efficient.As long as numbers are involved, there is no 100% security. He suggested that, it might be best not to AUTOMATE our elections.Thus we can use the OLD FASHIONED way of elections and we could make it more EFFICEINT,TRANSPARENT & FAST by using a certain type of PLASTIC WRITING MATERIAL that we could write-on instead of using paper and a certain type of pen to write our vote on the said(plastic) mat'l. and an OVERHEAD PROJECTOR in counting our votes.Thus in using plastic & AN OVERHEAD PROJECTOR,we can visibly count our ballots TRANSPARENTLY.Watchers don't need to go near the counter but by using the OVERHEAD PROJECTOR all can visibly count the ballots faster, efficiently(comfortably) and TRANSPARENTLY.Thus DAGDAG-BAWAS could be eliminated.An automated elections is surely faster but not 100% secured due to hackers & viruses and transparent.Maybe its best to have an election count a little bit longer but electing the best OFFICIALS for a better FILIPINO LIFE & PUBLIC SERVICE rather than an AUTOMATED election which is way faster but not 100% secured and efficient thus giving a LONGER HARDSHIP to the Filipino if a bad intentioned(money) candidate had succeded in his/her cheating activities during the elections.In my point-of-view a GOOD CANDIDATE W/ GOOD INTENSIONS(Public Service) will NOT CAPITALIZE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PESOS just to WIN IN THE ELECTIONS.Thus all he/she would use is his/her CAPABILITIES,ACHIEVEMENTS,GOOD VISIONS for the Phils.,a little CASH coming fr. DONATIONS & pers'l money and most of all BLESSINGS OF GOD.But if a candidate wishes to run due to the interest of POWER(MONEY) surely he/she would CAPITALIZE A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY.There is a saying "MONEY BEGETS MONEY".If we would really want to have a BETTER PHILS. to live-in,maybe its time to make our elections FREE FROM CHEATING that BAD INTENTIONED CANDIDATES WOULD NOT SUCCEED IN OUR ELECTIONS by way of looking for a 100% SECURED WAY IN CASTING AND COUNTING OUR VOTES EFFICIENTLY & TRANSPARENTLY. (http://forums.gov.ph/thread.asp?rootID=106197&catID=2)

Last, June 29, 2009, a common news program aired that maybe automated election may not be done this coming election. Many were shocked because they expected that this kind of election will be practiced next year. The main reason is, TIM a local company from Philippines did not signed their contract with SMARTMATICS it is simply because, TIM doesn't agree with some points offered by SMARTMATICS. It is on the law that, when an automated election will be done here in the Philippines and if a foreign company won the bidding there is a local company from Philippines will share the contract to the COMELEC. In contrast with this, the TIM cut-off their partnership with SMARTMATICS. Many senators were get mad because of what happened. They said that if this issue will not be resolved, they will file a case against the companies. According to the spokesperson of SMARTMATICS, they want this project be done. Until now, the SMARTMATICS still in negotiation with the TIM.

As an IT student, I cannot say that automated election is better than the manual election. Maybe some will pros and cons of having an automated election. Let's not erase the fact that we are now living in Information Age. We should utilize the resources and follow the technology trends nowadays. If we want a hassle-free activities this 2010 election, better opt the automated election rather than manual election. Now decide on yourself, which is better, an automated election or a manual election?

Last edited by Chris Romarate on Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:36 am; edited 7 times in total

One site discuss about the capability of the country to enforce an automated election here in Philippines. They based there thoughts on the pre-trial testing happened in ARMM. They elaborated on how the muslim region lessens the reliability of the process. There ideas goes like this:

The computerized or automated election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) scheduled on August 11, 2008 is being threatened by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). On the other hand, this article is not about politics in the Philippines. This is about the computerization of the Philippine election system.

Are Filipinos ready for automation? Let me give you some facts about the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) then give your thoughts if the Philippines is ready for an automated election system (AES) as mandated by law (RA 9369 - Automated Election Law):

* The 2003 functional literacy survey of the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed ARMM as having the lowest basic literacy rate in the country, with 30 percent of its people aged 10-64 years old considered illiterate. * On a national level, one in 10 Filipinos can not read and write, according to the survey. * Ustadz Esmael Ibrahim of the Assembly of Darul Ifta of the Philippines said illiteracy in the ARMM is worst in Sulu, with 40 percent of its people unlearned.

In addition, according to reports, two voting technologies will be used in the ARMM elections - Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) in Maguindanao, and Optical Mark Reader (OMR) in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. More than 3,000 DRE machines and 156 OMR counting machines will be delivered to ARMM.

According to Comelec, “DRE uses electronic ballot, records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro optical components that can be activated by the voter, processes data by means of a computer program, records voting data and ballot images, and transmits voting results electronically.”

The automated ARMM election is a pretest to the 2010 Presidential elections in the Philippines. If this test succeeds, then for sure the Automated Election System will be used. If not, then maybe the Philippine government will consider going back to the “control” method which is the conventional election most Filipinos are used to or improve any weaknesses that will be identified in the implementation of the computerized election process.This brings to mind the question, “How reliable can the computerized (automated) election system be?” knowing that anything electronic is much easier to falsify. Will the election finally put an end to the “dagdag-bawas” dilemma in our nation’s election results? Or, will the automation process make it much easier to fake election returns? Is the software in the machines in the automated election properly tested and proven bug-free? That we will find out after the ARMM elections. Let the “trial-and-error” in our election process begin on August 11, 2008.

The fact that, lately the said AUTOMATED ELECTION here in Philippines, had experience the near death. It has said that in nearly stops the arrangement, for the TIM figured some risks on considering that if one side withdraws, the other hand surely suffer more, 'cause the TIM had the greater liability for it holds 60% on the process. On the other side, if something goes wrong the SMARTMATIC can freely go and set as free, for it is a foreign company indeed. There's nothing to worry about, they have the least part of liability (40%). And so, the attitude of being a businessman really occur this time.

June 04, if im not mistaken, the deal was being reborn. But it was so selfish act of bought side TIM and Smartmatic for they kept the true reasons of there argument last time. They make us filipino as not concerened by there dicesionswhich is definetely wrong! For this is our country, we are the citizens of it, and this is our election not them! They only serve as the tools!. Im very dissapointment of what they are showing to us, even though we are a democratic country indeed, we also should practice our awareness and nationalism. But, whatever facts will happen, we should always hope, it is for best!

Back to the main thought, on thus our country is ready on automated election system. For me, definitely not!. Look what have been happened on ARMM, on the last year trial election on muslim regions. There are being scars by the rebellion groups, like NPA and MILF. There are forced to pay revolutionary tax, and as well as to enforced a dictatorial form of election on the candidate they loved to. Here are the some of reasons, on the level of our readiness regarding on the AES:

* 1 of 10 Filipinos cannot read and write.* The government does not have the enough time to cofirm the filipinos nationwide, specially on rural areas!* Automated Election System is very vulnerable on data hacking and other forms of data interferences.* The process is not applicable on the type of culture and attitude we have, FILIPINOS! like CRAB MENTALITY!* Computer cracking might be a big problem for a medium civilized country like us.* These list are just my opinions, but no. 1 is a survey from above!

tnx sir!

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Technology is a knowledge of using tools and machines to do tasks more efficiently. We use technology to control the world we live in. Since the art of making fire and creating handcrafted tools, our civilization has come a long way. Science and Technology are making advances at an astonishing rate. From telephones to the Internet, calculators to computers, cars to rockets and satellites, we are part of a new world of discoveries and inventions made possible by Science. Fields like Medicine and communications have changed our cultures and our lifestyles. The technology that surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and recreational activities. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at incomparable rates in history. Technology is constantly changing, and advancing.Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel. Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed, clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure time activities. Through this technology, it can help a lot in our country especially when it comes to election.. The COMELEC proposed to have an Automated Election..Automated Election System - System defined by the Request for Proposal (RFP) / Terms of References (TOR) that will be used in May 10, 2010 election in the Philippines.

The following are the advantages of Automated Election..

1. AccuracyIn today's society, the collection and dissemination of information by means of computer technology is increasing every day. The accuracy of the computer is extremely important which is why it is necessary to choose the correct method to precisely process the information that is input as well as create consistent information that is extracted.

2. AccountabilityIt is very important to secure the votes and maintain accountability. The reason is simply to keep very important votes accounted for so people all around. You do not have to deal with the consequences of the lost and unwanted votes. Votes are important . The importance of votes comes down to maintaining accountability to have a peaceful election to have a successful country. The habits of exercising security and accountability of votes is to operate the highest standards. Levels: RESTRICTED (public disclosure could have undesirable effects), CONFIDENTIAL (unauthorized disclosure could damage security, compromise information that indicates the disclosure of technical information), SECRET (unauthorized disclosure could seriously damage national security)

3. Accessibilityrefers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability or severity of impairment. It is largely a software concern; when software, hardware, or a combination of hardware and software, is used to enable use of a computer by a person with a disability or impairment, this is known as Assistive Technology.The computer, though lacking in many aspects, is clearly the superior in many other aspects. In sheer speed of computation and retrieval of data, the computer is obviously by far the stronger. It has the capacity to handle things on a far grander scale than the human brain could ever conceive. The capacity to organise is massively improved as compared to the human brain. Measurements, results, applications can all be done down to the tiniest details, far beyond the human brain's capabilities. Calculations can be done with an accuracy nearly impossible to achieve manually. A certain uniformity can be achieved in its functions, something a human can hardly hope to achieve

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Last edited by Fritzielaine A. Barcena on Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:41 am; edited 3 times in total

Looking back December 22, 1997, marks and signals the ratification of the law specifically "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."

However, this law was not implemented for two reasons. One the requirement that the counting machine to be used must be an “optical scanning/mark-sense reading device” unduly limited the technology to be used. Two, the Supreme Court scrapped the billion-peso automated election contract awarded to Mega Pacific Consortium due to anomalous bidding, rendering the counting machines useless. Consequently, the May 2004 elections were done manually, from the voting to the canvassing of the results. Gordon recalls that the process “was slow, tedious, and subject to criticism since the security of the electoral process and its capacity to preserve the sanctity of the ballot and the will of the electorate was put to question.”

But, an amendment was made that blow-up the Filipino people, “AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436, ENTITLED "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, TO ENCOURAGE TRANSPARENCY, CREDIBILITY, FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY OF ELECTIONS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE BATAS PAMPANSA BLG. 881, AS AMENDED, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7166 AND OTHER RELATED ELECTIONS LAWS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES". Some of the provisions of R.A 8436 were expunged and amended and it was ratified last January 23, 2007, now the Filipino people will surely vote electronically.

The Senate approved on the evening of March 5 the P11.3-billion budget that the Commission on Elections needs to fully automate the May 2010 presidential elections. Independent Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, principal author of RA 9369, lauded the Senate’s approval of the budget, saying

that it “sends a strong signal that the Philippines stands firm in protecting and safeguarding the sacred votes of its people.” The House of Representatives had passed its own bill the previous evening. There was no joint bicameral committee to reconcile the House and Senate bills. Since there were no conflicting provisions between the two bills, the House passed on third and final reading the P11.3-billion supplemental budget. Now there is no reason for the COMELEC not to implement a fully automated election in 2010. Gordon must be commended for his dogged determination, his persistence and commitment to have the law passed.

In his privilege speech before the Senate, Gordon said the Automated Election System (AES) proposed uses “appropriate technology for voting, counting, consolidating, canvassing, transmission of election results, and other processes in the conduct of electoral exercises.”

AES also assures electronic transmission of electoral results from the precinct level to Congress, the various board of canvassers, the parties, the accredited citizens’ arm, and the media. “This prevents wholesale cheating because tampering with the Certificates of Canvass will no longer be possible. The election returns and certificates of canvass transmitted electronically and digitally signed shall be considered as official election results and shall be used as basis for the proclamation of a candidate.”

Winning bidder for the 2010 election automation project

SMARTMATIC INTERNATIONAL CORP./TOTAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT CORP. (Smartmatic/TIM) is one of seven bidders for the 2010 election automation project.

All seven bidders, including Smartmatic/TIM, were initially declared ineligible to bid by the Comelec Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC). The seven bidders filed motions for reconsideration, and the SBAC reconsidered the bids of four consortiums subject to verification of submitted documents.Only Smartmatic/TIM passed the SBAC's eligibility, technical and financial requirements. Based on SBAC's recommendation, the Comelec en banc awarded the poll automation contract to Smartmatic/TIM on June 9, 2009.

About Smartmatic/TIM

Smartmatic International Corp. (Smartmatic) is awholly-owned subsidiary of Smartmatic International Holding, BV, a companyorganized under the laws of The Netherlands. Smartmatic has organized electionsusing its electronic voting solutions in Latin America, the Carribean, the United States, and Asia.

Total Information Management Corporation (TIM) is a domesticcorporation registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1981. Thecorporation is engaged in the business of information technology and serviceprovider.

The two corporations entered into a joint venture on April23, 2009.

In jeopardy

The automation project was put in jeopardy after TIM announced last Monday that it was withdrawing from its deal with Smartmatic. TIM had dragged in signing the incorporation documents to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The incorporation of the joint ventureis one prerequisite before the Comelec enters into a contract with Smartmatic and TIM. The documents are required by the Comelec as proof of the joint venture’s legal personality for the contract signing.

TIM, which would have a majority or 60 percent stake in the venture, had wanted more control in the financial and technical aspect of the automation project. TIM officials had alleged that despite Smartmatic’s minority, or only 40 percent, stake in the venture, the foreign partner wouldhave more control over the partnership’s affairs.

Without the proper check and balance, the groundwork for a possible electronic fraud is laid out, TIM sources said.

Smartmatic had insisted that the core issue is money. Lawyers of Smartmatic told Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin that TIM’s Antuñez had demanded P500 million from Smartmatic.

TIM had denied the allegation.

But as far as the poll body is concerned, it was TIM thatwas the guilty party. It threatened to file criminal and civil charges againstTIM for backing out of the landmark project.

AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM

According to R.A 9369, Automated election system (AES) is a system using appropriate technology which has been demonstrated in the voting, counting, consolidating, canvassing, and transmission of election result, and other electoral process. It is primarily made to ensure free, orderly, honest,peaceful, credible and informed elections, plebiscites, referenda, recall and other similar electoral exercises by improving on the election process and adopting systems, which shall involved the use of an automated election system that will ensure the secrecy and sanctity of the ballot and all election, consolidation and transmission documents on order that the process shall be transparent and credible and that the results shall be fast, accurate and reflective of the genuine will of the people.

Many people screaming for “CHANGE” and I think automated election are one of the stepping-stones towards absolute change. Partly, it has a good outcome in the upcoming 2010 elections. Somehow it will reduce the guns, goons, and gold during the said event. In principle, election automation willremove the potential for human error/cheating from the ballot review and ballot counting. It can give near instant feedback of the election results. As soon as voting closes, it should be technically possible to get the election results within an hour.

Some of its advantages are as follows:

1. Remove the potential for human error and cheating at ballot reading and tallying

2. Remove the delay and potential for cheating between ballot tallying and preparation of election returns

3. Remove the delay and potential for cheating during tallying of election returns

4. Make elections much cheaper to execute

5. Reduce election violence significantly.

Conversely, it will also lead to some disadvantages such as:

1. Quick counts will become obsolete. If the results can be reported on the same day, there will be no market for quick counts. (NAMFREL has recently announced no quick counts for 2010 -Editor)

2. Labor will no longer be needed for several days/weeks to manage and monitor elections. The resulting creative destruction will affect teachers, poll-watchers, men of arms, media people, advertising, and the peripheral economy that they patronize during election period.

3. Guns and goons will give way to geeks and gold. Attempts at cheating will shift to hacking the transmittal of election results from far flung areas to Manila, as well as hacking the tallying of results in Manila. this could have the happy side-effect of pushing the computer and internet revolution into far flung provinces, as money flows to reward technical know-how every six years.

4. Quick direct from population feedback will become a viable option—referendum questions like charter change can be realistically executed in a short period of time if elections become so cheap and quick to do.

In other words, automating elections in the Philippines will have far-reaching effects. At least if and when the entire country’s elections are automated. Conceivably, less people will need to watch over the process, so that means fewer customers for any nearby vendors or establishments in eacharea’s election stations.

Most exciting is the prospect of unscrupulous candidates starting to rely on geeks, aside from their goons, to affect the vote. Cheating attempts may actually give more people throughout the country more incentive to learn techie stuff like programming, network management, etc.

Of course, no one wants to see fraudulent elections. But what if Filipinos in the most remote areas of the Philippines suddenly learn computer programming? That’s a possibility, especially if candidates are willing to pay good money for results.

There are Risk Factors

1. Software -

The software used all throughout the process, from ballot reading all the wayto returns tallying, must be open for public scrutiny. It may not beproprietary and secret.

2. Devices -

Ballots and computers used throughout may fail. Backup/contingency plan mustexist and be robust. Sabotage could be the way cheating will be introduced, inorder to force reverting to manual process.

3. Architecture

- Transmittal and reporting of results could be susceptible to hacking. Instantpublic visibility of results as counted at source and as transmitted at receiptwill mitigate threats of hacking.

4. User -

Voting needs to be simple and straightforward. Many Filipinos are not computerliterate, and barely literate. PEBKAC errors can lead to many spoiled ballots,which may either be invalidated like in the US, or can be used as a pretense torevert to manual.

As an IT student

We can’t deny the fact that we are now living in a digital and high-tech world. Different technologies have invented every now and then which can affect our daily living. It can bring us comfort but sometimes leads to problems.

In my own notion, through automation we can ensure a credible transition of power and have clean, honest and orderly 2010 elections. Moreover, setting up the country's automated electoral system is a crucial step toward clean and honest elections. While it will not be a cure-all for the country's electoral problems, automating the polls will eliminate a lot of the human intervention that has made vote-rigging possible.

I am very optimistic that an automated electoral system will facilitate fair and honest elections, provide a new set of government leaders with an unquestionable authority, and unite the country in facing the challenges ahead of us. The heart of a true democracy lies in achieving clean and honest elections which provide mandate and authority to elect public officials. Our laws mandate the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to use an automated election system in the conduct of national and local elections to encourage transparency, credibility, fairness and accuracy of elections.

More to the point, the R.A 9369, sec. 4 states that:

"Information Technology Support for the Board of Canvassers. - To implement the AES, each board of canvassers shall be assisted by an information technology-capable person authorized to operate the equipment adopted for the elections. The Commission shall deputized information technology personnel from among the agencies and instrumentalities of the government, including government-owned and controlled corporations. The per diem of the deputized personnel shall be the same as that of the members of the board of canvassers."

Therefore, IT persons are also one of the active-ingredientin the 2010 elections. They take the lead.

Shiela Marie P. Nara wrote: 1.) What is automated elections all about?2.) What is the Smartmatic-TIM consortium?3.) Why does TIM cut its relation with theSmartmatic4.) What is the problem? Could they settle it?5.) As an IT student, why do you think this automated elections must push through?6.) What are the advantages of the automation compared to the manual elections?

These questions are answerered in the following article.

Automated Elections in the Philippines

The Beginning

It’s time for the Philippines to vote electronically. The election in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last August 11, 2008 marked the beginning of the automated election in the Philippines. Thus used two voting technologies-Direct Recording Electronics (DRE) and (OMR). As the name suggests, DRE uses electronic ballot display that can be activated by the voter, processes data using computer program and transmits voting records electronically. James Jimenez, COMELEC spokesperson, 2008 said “With the new technology, the people of Maguindanao were more motivated to vote than ever before”. The success of the 2008 ARMM election brought the decision to automated system to the 2010 Philippine Presidential election. This is hoped to be a part of the legacy of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This is also among the four plans of Comelec.

The Companies Who Beat the Bid

Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) called for bidding for the automation project with a Php 11.3 billion budget. The Smartmatic- Total Information Management Corp. joint venture beat several other companies with a bid of only Php 7.21 billion to secure the contract.

The Negative Responses

However, there are disapprovals and allegations with the poll automation. Legislators would block the signing of the contact between the government and the Smartmatic, questioning the identity of the Dutch firm. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, called Comelec to salvage the automation project and considered the Open Election System.

Meanwhile, Gabriel Claudio, presidential adviser for political affairs rejected suggestions that the automated project is used to prolong PGMA’s stay in power.

The Conflict of the Companies

On June 29, TIM, the Filipino company partner of Smartmatic Corporation decided to withdraw from the consortium due to the “irreconcilable differences”. They said Smartmatic will have more control over project operations. Lawyer Boy de Borja said “we should be the last one to do or not to do anything which will undermine every Filpino’s longing for clean and honest election through automation. The 60-40 law is a declaration. There’s a reason for it. We’re supposed to see to it that everything is done right. We have to maske sure that the integrity is absolute and beyond doubt.”

On the other hand, Cesar Flores, Smartmatic’s international sales director called on TIM to set right its shortcomings. He said “We are legally bound by this agreement to incorporate this joint venture.” According to him “TIM is basically complaining against a guideline set by the Comelec itself. It’s a requirement of Comelec in terms of reference that the company with the biggest experience in automation is the one to guarantee technology, software transmission and operation of election. In this case, Smartmatic is indeed, in charge of the operation.”

However, Smartmatic is still open to reconcile with TIM and was still committed to honor the automation contract with Comelec.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo has given the two companies until July 3 to settle their problem and sign the automation contract.

Former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod said the poll body is to be blame if the 2010 automated elections fail to push through, with the Comelec’s broad powers, it can dictate how the bidding and the automation should happen. He urged the Comelec to shun its belief that there is no other way but to stay manual if the automation fails to push through.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita got the assurance from Comelec Chairman Melo that the national and local elections will still push through even if plans to automate the voting system don’t materialize. He added that he is confident that Comelec will be able to handle the situation. The Updates

On July 3, Comelec legal chief Ferdinand Rafanan hinted of a possible reconciliation between Barbados-based Smartmatic International and Filipino company Total Information Corp. (TIM).

"We have been doing so much hard work and prayers. Something good is going to happen," Rafanan said when asked if he has information about the outcome of the overnight meeting between officials from the Smartmatic and TIM.”

While Rafanan refused to confirm that the two companies have already reached an agreement, he said the rift between Smartmatic and TIM was a blessing in disguise.

If the two companies fail to reach an agreement, the poll official said the commission en banc will immediately meet to discuss three top options on how the Comelec should push through with the 2010 elections. Sarmiento said on top of the list is the possible partnership between Comelec and Smartmatic. Rafanan said that if TIM will continue to refuse to fulfil its end of the automation contract on Friday, the Comelec will immediately file charges.However, at the same day, the tw o companies reconcile and able to thesh up things. Thus, they are back on track.

After weeks of suspense and tense reconciliation meetings between estranged contract partners, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday finally sealed the deal with the winning consortium. But a recent petition filed with the Supreme Court still threatens to derail the contract.

The signing of the contract will start the preparations for the historic first automation program for the Philippines’ general elections next year, and end the manual system that has been blamed for electoral fraud in past elections.

My Opinion

Everyone is praying for the successful, efficient, honest and credible 2010 elections.

How reliable can the computerized election be? Will it end the cheating, like that of Virgilio Garcillano? Or will just make the false election easier? The answer is already seen in the ARMM election.

The main point of having automated election is its great advantages that overwhelm its disadvantages. Americans once said “Change we need” so are we and this automated elections is part of that change.

Technologies are offered to bring the easiest way possible of our living so as with the election. In automated election or Smartmatic’s electronic voting, the speed of counting ballots is faster and can also provide accessibility for disabled. And the manual can’t offer that. This could also be secure, reliable and auditable. Electronics are the fastest way of recording. The automated election system (AES) proposed using appropriate technology for voting, counting, consolidationg, canvassing, transmission of election results and other processes. With this technology of automated election, it could be a good start of having clean, efficient, and fair election.

Is it reliable? If it’s the fastest and the easiest, the ability to falsify the votes would be clearly observed by the vigilant eyes of the people.If automated could only bring easy fake elections, then why did it succeed in ARMM? Will it end the cheating? Automated elections have the goal to minimize cheating. The poll body should be responsible enough to the credibility of the elections. It’s a shame if the Filipino politicians pay to the foreign company just to falsify the elections.